At present, the most common
mode of production for homopolymers/copolymers
is by batch, using conventional thermal
initiators. The typical techniques employed to
perform such polymerisations are solution,
emulsion and suspension. Solvents, surfactants
and suspension stabilisers are necessary
components in each of these systems,
respectively. The addition of each of these
components brings inherent disadvantages. They
are difficult to remove from the final product,
thus, compromising product quality. Moreover,
(especially relevant in the case of the solvent)
the detrimental environmental impact that they
can cause is very significant. This project may,
in effect, be separated into two smaller
‘sub-projects’.

The first of these
‘sub-projects’ will consider bulk
photo-copolymerisation. Bulk polymerisation is
an ideal solution to the problems described in
the first paragraph, in that there is only the
initiator and the monomer/s present in the
system – no other products that could tarnish
the final polymer product or cause unnecessary
harm to the environment. Additionally, the use
of UV light to initiate the reaction can bring
further benefits. However, with conventional
reactor technologies such as stirred tank
vessels, bulk polymerisation presents a number
of problems during the course of the
polymerisation reaction such as inadequate heat
transfer rates, inability to cope with highly
viscous media and severe diffusion limitation in
such media. Moreover, photo-initiation is highly
inefficient using the typical reactor
geometries. In this project, we propose to
investigate the applicability of a spinning disc
reactor as an intensified reactor system to bulk
photo-copolymerisation systems in an attempt to
reduce or eliminate these problems.

The second of the two
‘sub-projects’ in question considers the
application of spinning disc reactor technology
to surfactant-free photo-initiated emulsion
polymerisation and copolymerisation. The fact
that water-soluble photo-initiators will be used
in order to stabilise the latex particles as
opposed to surfactants makes this process route
more environmentally benign as well as helping
to reduce the costs of downstream
processing/units required for surfactant
removal.